Being the Continuing Adventures of a Woman and her Trusty Kayak in New York Harbor, the Hudson River, and Beyond.
(with occasional political rants just to keep things lively!)

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

A Little Bit More About Horseshoe Crabs

I did a little online research on horseshoe crabs during my lunch hour - I've learned a fair amount about them since I began paddling Jamaica Bay, I like knowing about the creatures who call the bay home, but something like the police catching poachers in the act makes me want to brush up on things. I found 2 items that I thought I'd share quickly -

1. A Daily News article talking about the US Parks Police ramping up efforts to catch horseshoe crab poachers in Jamaica Bay. This is a few years old but the information is still relevant to understanding Monday night's events. Link:

3 comments:

The situation with the Red Knots (a migratory shore bird) is critical, because the depletion of the Horseshoe Crab (or actually its eggs) has contributed to the endangerment of the bird. These birds are very picky eaters (unlike gulls for example who will eat your baloney sandwich). If they cannot find enough crab eggs to munch on, they will not survive.